TR 271 - Looking Back & Looking Ahead The Torch Report

It’s time to reflect.
And for me, my friends, that comes in the form of a poem:
This year has been a journey,Another lap around the sun,Decades in the making,An end that’s just begun.After years of things gone crazy,After tears and years of loss,The people’s hearts are stirring,As we question who’s the boss.Who gets to censor info?Who gets to silence speech?Who gets to limit freedom?Who gets to restrict your reach?Who gets to muzzle humans?Who gets to rule us all?Who gets to stifle spirit?Who gets to make us small?There are those who seek more power,Those who seek control,Who live atop the towers,Viewing masses as a whole.They grasp that it’s us and them,They set themselves apart,They rule with iron fists,Without regard for heart.They miss the deeper meaning,The yearning of the soul,And fail to grasp the strength,Of the underdog’s final role.Depleted and desperate,And pushed to the brink,With nothing to lose,The underdogs think:Why this is not right!They can’t treat me like that!But then again here we are,So maybe we’ll scrap?Those pushy old thugs,That political class,They think that they’re better,Until they’re knocked on their ass.But to bring balance to power,To bring bad things to light,Will take more that just squawking,Or even effort and might.It will take long conversations,Time spent with friends,Until the minds of the masses,Grasp the political ends.What is their game here?How’s it being played?How have we drifted?How have we strayed?Their isn’t one answerThat makes it succinct,But there is a deep knowingThat we are on the brink.It’s the classical battle,It’s us versus them,It’s the global cabalVersus our families and friends.They care not for your loved ones,They care not for your life,They are driving divisions,They are stoking the strife.They make us mad at each other,They make us confused and unsure,But by standing together,Our rights will endure.We cannot accept failure,We cannot accept shame,We cannot accept placid,We cannot accept vain. Right now is the moment,Of defining our time,As dark forces gather,And slither and slime.As we shake fists at the heavens,As we swing at the skies,As we scream at the storm clouds,We’re believing the lies.They’re crafty and cunning,They pull strings and change scenes,But they can’t stop resistance,From free human beings.Our story’s not over,We won’t go away,We will fight for the right,To have it our way.We’ll rise up and shout,We’ll speak truth and proclaim,Our life and our freedoms,Are not meant to be tamed. As we look to the future,As we embrace liberty,Let us never forget,Our shared destiny.We are Americans…
…Let’s live up to it!
Live free or die!
Covid changed everything. It turned the world upside-down. Businesses were shuttered. Loved ones died alone. People were locked up and isolated. Faces were covered. There was an eerie distance and distinct distrust within our communities.
We’ve each stumbled through the pandemic in our own way, picking up the pieces of what was, trying to make sense of what is, and grasping for glimpse of what’s to come.
For myself, after relocating to a remote location to avoid the zombie apocalypse and be closer to loved ones, I began to build new relationships in a new community. After homesteading, I coached football, started attending local meetings, ran for school board, and spent every extra minute trying to research what was really going on.
What I was learning was shocking to me. Nothing was as it seemed. As I slowly wrapped my head around the pandemic, it was like waking up from a bad dream—only to find the situation was worse than I’d ever imagined.
I’d been asleep at the wheel… and I wasn’t the only one.
Politics were never really top-of-mind for me. Having destroyed my body in the military, crawling my way through a decade of chronic pain, taking up yoga to avoid amputation, the focus of my life had taken many unexpected turns. From a promising financial career to op